A PROJECT ON WOOD CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

 A PROJECT ON WOOD CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

Abstract

The world and construction industry gradually shift from the old building materials such as wood. There is limelight in the concrete and metal invention techniques. Climatic change due to environmental destruction is a significant concern and organization’s advice for an alternative, environmentally friendly construction methods.  The following project is an in-depth analysis of wood as a construction material that is very sustainable and advantageous, especially for the fast-growing countries (Kuzman & Groselj, 2012, pg. 593). Timber have plyometric chains in parallel formation to form almost crystalline cells. The amorphous sections lead to lignin, which is responsible for the durability of the wood. The methodology used for this project are procedures to test for compression, tension bending, and sustainability in different woods.

Introduction

Wood is the prominent construction material for centuries because of its reliability and aesthetic properties. In current years, the civil engineers and constructors embrace the old trick in small households, apartments, industrial bases, and monuments for framing. The concept becomes unique and captures various scientists’ skills because of its economic value in building (Green & Taggart, 2020, pg.56). The techniques spread like plagues, and many engineers agree with the materials’ submission as plausible and heartwarming. The project is necessarily the best way to determine the structural components of wood concerning the local industry. The wood for building divides into soft, hard, and engineered lumber.

Wood is the best construction material because of its tensile strength. In as much as lumber is the lightest material, it outdoes streel and concrete because it has the highest self-support potency. Most monuments and frames are made of timber to appreciate its physical abilities in holding up the massive load. It is highly resistant to electricity and heat (Van De Kuilen et al., 2011, pg.1622). Physicists famously know wood as a poor conductor of heat and electricity, thus works in favor of persons and property security (Ritter et al.,2011, pg.206). At no point will it probe a fire due to its moisture content level of at least 12%. Additionally, hardwood, softwood, and engineered wood has an aesthetic value and attracts the imagination of many artists, and it is renewable if not quickly processed for operation. For instance, a project that uses lumber requires less time than concrete, which needs weeks to dry up before further construction.

Objectives

• To identify different types of wood in the construction industry
• To determine the types of wood suitable for construction in Oman
• To discuss the specific engineering properties of sustainable timber for Oman.
• To test for compatibility, tension, and compression of different timbers in the discussion.
• To discuss the suitability of the different types of wood in the building industry.

Methodology

Wood Principle

The wood cell structure is either elongated, circular, or triangular with lengths up to 4 millimeters and a width of about 40 micrometers. Their physical properties are entirely dependent on the type of tree. Hardwood at the time has a broader width, unlike softwood with longer cells. The cell wall comprises a polymer in an elongated series (Khatib, 2016, pg. 75). Most of its strength responsible for durability in construction are located in distinct chains in the middle part of the wood while the inner walls create support. Every cell is weak in its way, but a combination of the results to a beneficial and robust building material (Kutnik et al., 2014, pg. 125). A good explanation for this concept is the power of unity. When people work together, they can move a mountain, unlike an island man prone to challenges. It means that the cells bind to create a desirable wood resistant to humidity, tension, and temperatures.

Test for compression properties

1. Take nominal of 3-1/2″ of compression cube of any type of timber. For this experiment, oak, pine, and spruce samples with parallel surfaces cut into the 5*5 section. The first set has a load put on perpendicular to the grain, while the latter has the capacity in a parallel formation.
2. Measure the cross-sectional length and width of each lumber close to 0.003 in a well-calibrated caliper.
3. Set the testing machine in correspondence to the construction material’s constant and lower the crosshead to obtain a slight load near the zero marks.
4. Place the compressive load slowly on the specimen at a rate of 25 psi to 45 psi per second.
5. Add more load to the specimen for more minutes until it reaches the maximum weight.
6. For each wood sample, take note of the maximum load from the reading scale.
7. Repeat the experiment for the three wood samples and note the readings.

Test for Tension Properties

1. Take three types of wood, the same as the previous experiment. The first set has a load put on perpendicular to the grain, while the latter has the amount in a parallel formation.
2. Use the standard tension test manual from the manuscript and record the results.

Test for durability

1. Set the experimental wood samples to humidity about 65% to 100% and a varying temperature between 6 and 50⁰
2. Record the mold growth from the experiment using the formula

M_max =  1 + 7{ ( RH_crit –  RH) / ( RHcrit –  100)}  -2  {( RHcrit –  RH) / ( RHcrit –  100)  }²                                              

 Test Result

Result Analysis

The mold damage is more in pine wood that oak. Pine is softwood, while hardwood is hard, which is durable and resistant to temperatures and humidity. It is, therefore, most suitable for the construction of structures below and above the ground (Xavier et al., 2012, pg. 210).  From the graph, the oak and spruce show severe damage due to humidity between 30 % and 40%. The tree shows a 1.00 psi while then pine has the lowest psi of 0.73. It is important to note that the results of the three types of wood are variant. Compression is most moderate in a perpendicular formation.

 Discussion

On the compression and tension test, the table demonstrates two significant properties of wood concerning construction. It confirms different types of wood and whether they can withstand pressure from the excess load of any structure. Oak is the most reliable wood (Bardak et al., 2017, pg. 56). The spruce is approximately 85% and pine 75%s as sturdy as the hardwood. In this paper, the formula above relates to exact margin conditions where M_max represents the mold index of between 0 and 6 and is dependent on mold growth on the surface of the wood. R.H. abbreviates the relative humidity while RHcrit stands for the relative humidity from the procedure as a result of temperature.

The graph explains that the relative humidity impacts on wood it different and depends on the specific type. The damage takes a high value between 40% and 50%. Structures build underground tend to damage faster than those over the surface of the earth. It is because of the impact of high water content due to soil capillarity and drainage. Oman is along the coast; thus, many homes need decks made of wood (Vosmer, 2019, pg. 303). The country is young in the construction industry; therefore, it requires building techniques with economic value. The wood features minimize sound disturbance from the water bodies due to ships and boat movement and inland transport (Latif, 2020, pg. 246). Every country thrives for the best environment with less pollution, and Oman government sees it suitable to embrace a sustainable method of construction. The ministry of infrastructure and house assures the success of lumber consumption and encourages trade in the material. The wood industry is the epicenter of the construction business in Oman for the past decade, and the impact is mind-blowing.

Conclusion

Conclusively, wood is the best construction material, especially in Oman, because it is environmentally friendly, has the highest tensile strength and aesthetic value. Most monuments and frames are made of timber to appreciate its physical abilities in holding up a large load.  Hardwood at a time has a broader width, unlike softwood with longer cells. The cell wall comprises a polymer in an elongated series. The durability of any type of lumber depends on temperature and humidity. The structures exposed to the earth’s surface survive more than those underground, thus fit for monuments and framing in Oman.

References

Kuzman, M.K., and Groselj, P., 2012. Wood as a construction material: comparison of different construction types for residential building using the analytic hierarchy process. Wood research, 57(4), pp.591-600.

Green, M. and Taggart, J., 2020. Tall wood buildings: Design, construction and performance. Birkhäuser.

Ritter, M.A., Skog, K., and Bergman, R., 2011. Science supporting the economic and environmental benefits of using wood and wood products in green building construction. General technical report FPL-GTR-206. Madison, WI: U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, 2011: 9 p., 206.

Khatib, J. ed., 2016. Sustainability of construction materials. Woodhead Publishing.

Kutnik, M., Suttie, E., and Brischke, C., 2014. European standards on durability and performance of wood and wood-based products–Trends and challenges. Wood Material Science & Engineering, 9(3), pp.122-133.

Xavier, J., De Jesus, A.M.P., Morais, J.J.L. and Pinto, J.M.T., 2012. Stereovision measurements on evaluating the modulus of elasticity of wood by compression tests parallel to the grain. Construction and Building Materials, 26(1), pp.207-215.

Latif, Q.B.A.I., 2020. Oman Construction Industry Prospective on Cause of Construction Material Waste. International Journal of Integrated Engineering, 12(1), pp.243-252.

Vosmer, T., 2019. Sewn boats in Oman and the Indian Ocean. International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 48(2), pp.302-313.

Bardak, T., Tankut, A.N., Tankut, N., Aydemir, D., and Sozen, E., 2017. The bending and tension strength of furniture joints bonded with polyvinyl acetate nanocomposites. Maderas. Ciencia y tecnología, 19(1), pp.51-62.

Van De Kuilen, J.W.G., Ceccotti, A., Xia, Z., and He, M., 2011. Very tall wooden buildings with cross-laminated timber. Procedia Engineering, 14, pp.1621-1628.